Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States and one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Nearly 25 million people are currently living with cancer, with 11 million new cases diagnosed each year. Furthermore, as the general population continues to age, cancer will become a bigger and bigger problem. The World Health Organization projects that by the year 2020, global cancer rates will increase by 50%.
Successful treatment of cancer starts with early and accurate diagnosis. Current methods of diagnosis include cytological examination of tissue samples taken by biopsy or imaging of tissues and organs for evidence of aberrant cellular proliferation. While these techniques have proven to be both useful and inexpensive, they suffer from a number of drawbacks. First, cytological analysis and imaging techniques for cancer diagnosis often require a subjective assessment to determine the likelihood of malignancy. Second, the increased use of these techniques has lead to a sharp increase in the number of indeterminate results in which no definitive diagnosis can be made. Third, these routine diagnostic methods lack a rigorous method for determining the probability of an accurate diagnosis. Fourth, these techniques may be incapable of detecting a malignant growth at very early stages. Fifth, these techniques do not provide information regarding the basis of the aberrant cellular proliferation.
Many of the newer generation of treatments for cancer, while exhibiting greatly reduced side effects, are specifically targeted to a certain metabolic or signaling pathway, and will only be effective against cancers that are reliant on that pathway. Further, the cost of any treatments can be prohibitive for an individual, insurance provider, or government entity. This cost could be at least partially offset by improved methods that accurately diagnose cancers and the pathways they rely on at early stages. These improved methods would be useful both for preventing unnecessary therapeutic interventions as well as directing treatment.
In the case of thyroid cancer it is estimated that out of the approximately 130,000 thyroid removal surgeries performed each year due to suspected malignancy in the United States, only about 54,000 are necessary. Thus, approximately 76,000 unnecessary surgeries are performed annually. In addition, there are continued treatment costs and complications due to the need for lifelong drug therapy to replace the lost thyroid function. Accordingly, there is a need for improved testing modalities and business practices that improve upon current methods of cancer diagnosis.
The thyroid has at least two kinds of cells that make hormones. Follicular cells make thyroid hormone, which affects heart rate, body temperature, and energy level. C cells make cacitonin, a hormone that helps control the level of calcium in the blood. Abnormal growth in the thyroid can result in the formation of nodules, which can be either benign or malignant. Thyroid cancer includes at least four different kinds of malignant tumors of the thyroid gland: papillary, follicular, medullary and anaplastic.